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VI Session 18, Storm of Death
Bor tells them of a back way through Fjellraized that leads to Skeleton Peak. The party leave Bor and the others in the care of Sailor-Eater and the Chuuls before heading deeper into the temple. They follow a winding tunnel to the old temple ruins. Tombs of ancient dwarven high priests are all that's left of the ancient Crûsgar dwarven shogunate. Finellen briefly pays respects to her ancestors before they move on. They enter the temple basillica to find it trashed. Around the bacillica are nine empty alters. Hauri remembers the nine golden idols that they pulled from a wax encrusted hollow in the entrance and moves around the abandoned holy site, returning them to the altars. There is a blast of unnaturally icy air as a tenth altar materialises in the room. On the altar is an octagonal iron rod eventually identified as the "Witchmill Rod" an ancient staff wielded by the invading Crûsgar dwarves and one of many weapons that helped them crush the ancient Danasian Dynasty. There is a grind sound as a passage down opens up. The party peek down into the crypts below the basillica. A long row of sarcophigi ends in a translucent glowing figure of an armoured dwarf, kneeling in prayer. the party approach, but their words are only met with the burning glare of a dwarven crusader, outraged by the presence of a goblin, an orc and a danasian in his sacred resting place. He conjures the spirits of the other crusaders and a long drawn-out battle nearly claims the lives of the heroes, but they manage to escape with their lives, fleeing the basilica and venturing into the half-colapsed ruin. Forcing their way through hallways choked with rubble, Kimchiwei is suddenly made aware of a presence. Something reaches out to him, begging for assistance. A voice in the dark senses his mind and guides him to a secret door in the high priests quarters. Opening the doorway they are met with a bizarre figure in porcelin-white western style armor. Its whithered face houses cold-empty eye sockets. The creature introduces himself as Glashael the lesser, exarch of Gurhan'glashael the white. His sarcastic tone does little to mask his pleasure at the sight of mortal creatures once again and begs them to let him travel with them. He explains that his master is dead, the victim of a virulent disease that ravaged the dragons of Danasian in ages past. Since his master's passing, the temple has fallen into ruin and Glashael has not had the power to escape his master's tomb. He has gone through great lengths to extend his own lifetime, undergoing a failed attempt at lichdom has resulted in undeath, but not lasting power. He offers what little of his master's treasure he can, but begs the party not to disturb his master's rest. He bids his master farewell, stroking his skull lovingly and whispering something unintelligible. He turns to the party and swears his fealty to the cause of slaying Cuelebre and offers them use of an artifact beloved by his master. A large flying carpet. The party, with their new companion eventually find the exit into the raining darkness. Large globs of oily black slime fall from the sky from a guyser half a kilometer from the temple entrance. As the party step into the rain, using the flying carpet as a mobile shelter. As they move closer to the gyser, Irome looks up just in time to see a colossal skeleton bearing down upon them. His stone-like fists send the party scattering into the black. Their weapons chip away at the bones as the skeleton slams his rock-crushing fists into the black rock. Repeated attempts at using the 6 Demon Bag end in failure as the skeleton sweeps the party asside like gnats. The party are no match for this power and scramble together for one final desperate attack against the titan. Springing from the skeleton is the titanic ghost of Patcha Kamaq. His ghostly presence drinks in the sputtering life-force of the party. At that moment, Finellen makes one last and desperate attempt at using the 6 Demon Bag. With an ear splitting crack of thunder, the skeleton and Patcha Kamaq erupt into misty-cloud and is swept into the bag. The surviving party members burst into desperate laughter despite the poisonous rain still seeping into their skin. They take a moment to tend to their fallen, fortunate to avoid any casualties. Even Glashael, who was thought dead manages to cling to life for another day. They gather themselves together and summon a small kingfisher bird to carry the vial of xirang into the gyser. With a thunderous explosion, the earth erupts violently. Hundreds of tons of rock shards are flung tens of meters in the air and come crashing down upon a newly created mountain peak. the party find themselve backed into the temple by the sudden expanse of rock and make their way back down to the Fjellraized. Hoping that the xirang permanently sealed the gyser. As they round the final bend they are met with joyous laughter. Sailor-Eater, the chuuls, Bor and his pets, Oridmar, the elderly pair and twenty six other dwarves, covered in the oily rain, cheer the heroes as they return. One of the oily dwarves drops a studded club and moves to embrace Finellen. She wipes the oil from his face and to her surprise, is met with her eldest son, Jaklun. Outside the rain has stopped and the sun is setting on the horizon. Kimchiwei pulls out the Sun's Touch Gada and opens a portal to the Jade Lady. He knows a city that is in desperate need of skilled labor. EXP and Journal